LSU accepts bid to face Notre Dame on Jan. 1 in Citrus Bowl

The LSU Tigers will ring in the new year in Mickey Mouse’s neck of the woods for the second consecutive season. LSU is heading to Orlando, Fla. to face Notre Dame in the Citrus Bowl.

While bowl games usually try to avoid back-to-back invitations if possible, this year the Citrus Bowl was obligated to invite the top-ranked SEC team that didn’t reach the College Football Playoff or a New Year’s 6 bowl game. That leaves the Tigers, who will attempt to repeat their virtuoso 29-9 win over Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson and Louisville last year.

LSU bounced back from a shaky start this season, finishing 9-3 despite early losses to Mississippi State and Troy. The Tigers are in position for their first 10-win season since 2013.

Notre Dame (9-3) is on the opposite track as LSU. The Fighting Irish spent much of the season as a College Football Playoff hopeful, but puttered to the finish line with two losses in their final three games, losing to Miami and Stanford in convincing fashion.

This will be the 12th all-time meeting between the Tigers and Irish in a series that dates to 1970. Notre Dame holds a 6-5 edge in the series. The Irish beat LSU 31-28 in their most recent showdown, the 2014 Music City Bowl.

LSU is headed to a bowl game for the 18th consecutive season, the fifth-longest active streak in college football. The Tigers haven’t missed a bowl game since Nick Saban took over the program in 2000.